Pope Leo has already made history by becoming the first American Pope. Moreover, in his first mass, the Pope used English among other languages to address the crowd, which also drew significant attention as well as criticism. However, besides all these, one question that looms large now is the newly elected Pope’s citizenship status.
Pope Leo has been a lifelong citizen of America. However, now that he is heading Vatican City, a sovereign nation, the status of his citizenship has become a bit complicated. As reported by The New York Times, “United States law allows dual citizenship. According to the State Department, a dual citizen who became a foreign head of state would not necessarily lose American citizenship if he or she wanted to keep it.”
Besides remaining an US citizen, the question of his eligibility to remain a voter is also another concern. To this, Matt Dietrich, spokesperson for the Illinois Board of Elections mentioned, “He’s still an active voter in Will County, Illinois, and he did cast a ballot in November 2024 — a vote by mail.” He further mentioned that as long as the Pope maintains his Illinois address, he will be able to vote as he has been doing all these years.
Regarding the continuation of his American citizen status, The New York Times further reported, “The State Department explains on its website that it will ‘actively review’ cases of foreign heads of state wishing to retain American citizenship, while warning that such cases ‘raise complex questions of international law,’ including ones related to immunity from American legal jurisdiction.”
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Another thing to note here is that Pope Leo is also a naturalized citizen of Peru and the country allows dual citizenship. As reported by The New York Times, “The Peruvian constitution states that naturalized citizens remain Peruvian as long as they maintain a residency there. It is unclear whether Peru has laws applicable to a citizen becoming a foreign head of state.”
Amanda Frost, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville further shed light on the matter of the Pope retaining his American citizenship despite heading the Vatican. Talking about the same in an email, Frost wrote, “Under the Supreme Court’s 1967 decision in Afroyim v. Rusk, a citizen cannot lose their citizenship without intentionally and voluntarily choosing to expatriate themselves.”
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The email further mentioned, “Taking a high-level policy position in another (government) can create questions about whether the individual intends to keep their U.S. nationality, and the state department may start an inquiry regarding that person’s citizenship. But the individual can keep his citizenship unless he expressly chooses to give it up.”
Therefore, as Pope Leo will continue to be an American citizen unless he actively wants to dissolve that, it now remains to be seen what new reformations will he bring in terms of the Church being more inclusive or women and other marginalized sections of the society.
Scroll down to see some images of Pope Leo.
Pope Leo has succeeded Pope Francis.
Pope Leo addressed his first mass in English along with other languages.
